Improved cat-block for freeing a ship s anchor



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE W. DUNCAN, OF BATH, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND CHARLES DAVENPORT, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVED CAT-BLOCK FOR FREEING A SHIPS ANCHOR.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,356, dated April 28, 1863.

To @ZZ wha/2t it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE IV. DUNCAN, a'citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Bath, in the county of Sagadahoc and State of Maine, have invented a new or Improved Apparatus for Discharging an Anchor from the Cat-Head of a Vessel; and' I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and rep-` resented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a perspective view of my said invention as suspended from a cat-head and as having its lever ring-hooks open ready for the reception of the ring of an anchor. Fig. 2 is a view of the apparatus as supporting an anchor.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination cfa tackle-block and certain lever hooks and chains, the same being as represented in the drawings, and arranged substantially as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, A denotes the cat-head of a vessel, while B is the usual cat-block sus pended from such cat-head in the ordinary manner by a rope, C, roved about the sheaves of the block and the usual sheaves of the cathead, and so as to enable the block to 'be raised by means of such rope or lowered by slackening the rope. In the lower part of the block there are hinged two lever ring-hooks, D D, whose lower ends arescarfed, so as to mutually lap on or over one another when the hooks are closed, as shown in Fig. 2. Each of these hooks is a lever, formed as represented in Fig. S-that is to say, it has two arms, a b, projected from a pivot or fulcrum piece, c, provided with a hole, d, the said hole being for the reception of a joint-pin, e, which goes through the hin ge-ears extending from the block. To the outer extremity of each arm a the lower end of one of the chains E E is affixed, such chain being suspended from the cat-head, as shown in the drawings. On hoisting the cat-block so as to slacken the chains E E the weight of the lever-arms a, a will close the jaws or arms b b, and, in case the ringv of an anchor may have been previously placed between them, they will hold the anchor suspended, as shown in Fig. 2. By lowering the cat-block and anchor their weight when-thrown upon the chains E E will cause them to draw on the arms a a and so as to force asunder the arms b b and drop or discharge the anchor from them.

My said apparatus may also be suspended from the davit of a vessel, and in such case will answer well in lowering and discharging a boat therefrom.

I claim- 'Ihe combination of the tackle-block B and the lever ring-hooks D D and their chains E E, the said block to be suspended from a cat-` head or a davit by means of a ila-l1 or rope, C, and the whole to operate substantially in manner and for the purpose as specified.

G. W. DUNCAN.

Witnesses:

Clins. DAVENPORT, AMMI R. MITCHELL. 

